All Roads Lead To Italica
by kiyone4ever
Summary: With the bustling city of Italica once more secure, Knight Commander Panache is responsible not only for the safety of the city but for the safety of the roads leading there. When a caravan arrives, handing her a mystery she can only hope that Itami and his friends can find answers.


In an attempt to jumpstart my creative energies, I have put together this little one-shot. Please enjoy this little tongue-in-cheek offering:

 **All Roads Lead To Italica  
**  
For Panache, Knight of the Rose Order and commander of the Order's forces in Italica, the now recognizable sound of the JSDF's steel carriages offered the promise of resolving a peculiar puzzle that had fallen into her lap.

With the successful defense of the city by the 'Green Men' and the garrisoning of a few hundred knights of the Rose Order, followed by the establishment of the Alnus Trading Cooperative, the trading caravans once more traveled the roads to Italica and while the city itself was well protected, the caravans were seen as a tempting target for the smaller groups of bandits still at large. Panache regularly sent mounted patrols to reduce the risk but still, some attacks were inevitable.

Four days ago, four of her knights had encountered a caravan on the Appia Way. The traders reporting they had been attacked by some fifty brigands. With an intact caravan, the story would have seemed absurd had her knights not indeed found fifty men, their wrists bound and trailing the second to last wagon in two secure lines. They also found in the lead wagon, exhausted and dirty, the young man the traders all declared had been their savior.

The leader of the caravan recounted how they had found the young man wandering down the road several days earlier, speaking in a tongue none of them could understand and looking very frustrated but otherwise quite polite when approached. They had invited him to share their campfire that night. In the morning he simply picked up his pack and his parasol and continued walking down the road. They thought little of it until late in the afternoon when they came upon another wagon, broken down and blocking the road. Three men apparently working on replacing a damaged wheel and then the ruse revealed as a group of riders approached the rear of the caravan, blocking them both front and back and another forty riders on the ridge ahead. A complete and inescapable trap.

Or so it seemed until the young wanderer reappeared. Panache could make little sense of the statements by witnesses. Some thought he must have been some sort of warrior mage. Others certain that he was an avatar sent by one of the gods. All agreed that the young man, alone and with only his parasol, took on and defeated the entire gang of bandits. Every sword strike expertly parried, the bandits overwhelmed by a strength and violence beyond any normal man until the last bandit lay unconscious and then the stranger simply pressed a finger against the wagon blocking the road and it shattered like a clay pot. He then collapsed as from exhaustion. The caravaners made room for him to rest in one of their wagons as they resumed towards Italica.

With the stranger resting comfortably in Countess Formar's mansion, Panache sought clues as to his identity. His clothes were of a style not native to the area but he carried a tool that, though clearly broken, reminded Panache of devices carried by Itami's people. In her brief attempt to question him, she shared the young man's frustration as he seemed confused by her speech and she was completely unable to comprehend his words in return. Except that the language reminded her of the tongue spoken by the 'Green Men'.

This is why Panache had sent her best available rider to go to Alnus and find Itami. If the language the stranger spoke was the same as that of Itami's people, then he would be able to ask the man how he came to be on the Appia Way. If his language was a different tongue, then perhaps the young mage Lelei Lalena could discern his speech as the girl had a remarkable affinity for languages.

It was for this reason that Panache was very relieved to see Itami and his people accompanied by Lelei, the elven girl Tuka, and Rory Mercury.

"Ah! Sir Itami. You have your healer with you." Panache regarded Sergeant Kurokawa with a slight smile. "That is good. Our guest does not appear to have suffered any wounds in the battle and we're fairly certain he is only suffering from exhaustion. Of course, no one knows how long he had been wandering the Way."

"I'd like to examine him now."

"Certainly. Mamina will take you in. She has been in charge of his care since he arrived." The Bunny maid curtsied to Kurokawa and gestured for her to follow. After they had left the room, Panache smirked. "Mamina seems rather interested in him. "She then noticed Rory eyeing the room where the stranger was staying.

"He is not of Emory," Rory said plainly. "None of the bandits were killed?"

"None," Panache confirmed.

"Battle without blood is not Emory's way."

"What about another god?"

"The gods are not known for their mercy or compassion. I am as intrigued as you are."

"Did he have any weapons?" Itami asked.

"Only that..." Panache pointed to the parasol resting against the wall next to the door to the stranger's room. "It took two men just to carry it in."

Rory smiled, picking it up and appreciating its weight and balance. "His strength is definitely impressive for a human. If he is; indeed, human."

Presently, Kurokawa stepped out and addressed Itami and Panache. "He's awake if you want to talk to him," she told Itami.

"He speaks Japanese?"

"Same as you or me. Though he seems very confused about his surroundings."

Itami nodded and he, Rory, Panache, Tuka, and Lelei followed Kurokawa into the guest room. Kurokawa addressed the young man. "This is Lieutenant Itami. He would like to ask you a few questions."

The young man looked at Itami with an intense gaze. Everyone was taken by surprise as he practically jumped out of bed to grab onto Itami's collar.

"Can you tell me? WHERE IS FURINKAN?!"


End file.
